Saturday, 2 April 2011

Ugh. Contempt Party leader hit a new low with this kind of opportunism. And, if the above was a genuine interaction, why the complicated staging and framing for the benefit of the astro-turf purported grass-roots supporters (I believe that the Contempt Party is compensating those *real* people who show up at its campaign events) and the media.

There’s a second conversation going on between the political parties and their direct audiences — the thousands of potential voters who are “following” — or reading — them.

At times, that appears to be an intimate conversation: Conservative Leader Stephen Harper tweeted on Day 1 of the campaign to his son Ben. “Ben, Great win! And against older guys! The team must be excited. Congratulate them all for me. Dad.”

Yet, even the intimacy was no doubt meant for the broader audience. A photo on the Conservative party website shows Harper on the campaign plane, typing the in-flight tweet to Ben on his iPad after Ben’s “team had just won a volleyball tournament.”